edition of this show on sunday night, because, well, isn't it obvious? well, now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. have a great night. today, new york decided it was not ready for a marathon on sunday, and some places might not be ready for voting on tuesday. >> millions are americans are still reeling. >> new york and new jersey are still reeling. >> from the devastating impact of hurricane sandy. >> this was a large storm. >> the secretary of homeland security. >> roughly the size of europe. >> the federal government will not quit until this is done. >> thank you fema fema is about to run out with money. >> 88 hours in ohio. >> president obama on the ground in ohio vernlg the center of the political universe right now. >> right here in ohio. >> you know that i'll fight for you and your families. >> it is all about ohio. >> do you want more of the same

or do you want real change? >> and governor romney will be in aetna, ohio. >> this is about eric mac. >> the salesman versus the storm. >> we're going to win on tuesday night. >> all the battlegrounds look winnable for the president. >> we're really down to the last seven states. >> it is still all about the economy. >> we've made real progress. >> you've got this jobs report, the unemployment report. >> definitely a strong jobs report. >> stronger than expected. >> that's good. >> unemployment is higher today than when barack obama took office. >> he is about as hollow as the tin man. >> if we don't run candy crowley, romney will be the nominee and he'll lose. we begin tonight with the latest on the recovery from the devastation of hurricane sandy. nbc news has now confirmed 94 deaths from the storm. more than half of those killed, 48 died in the state of new

york. of that 48 in the state, 40 deaths occurred here in new york city. and of those 40 new york city deaths, more than half, 22, occurred in the borough that was the hardest hit. staten island. it's greater than every other state hit by the storm. in new jersey, 13 died. 11 people died in maryland. there were seven deaths in pennsylvania. west virginia lost six people, four people died in connecticut, in north carolina two died and one person died in puerto rico. speaking to reporters today on staten island, homeland security. >> it's been mentioned this was a large storm. the area that sandy covered was roughly the size of europe.

we know that staten island took a particularly hard hit from sandy, so we want to make sure that the right resources are brought here as quickly as possible to help this community which is so very strong recover even more quickly. >> secretary napolitano told reporters today they had fema and the national guard on the ground in the northeast with more to come. over 75,000 survivors have applied for federal disaster assistance already and the governor has already given out $15 million in aid. more than 8.7 million liters of water are in place for victims along with 2.6 million meals. the red cross has 258 shelters open across the region. federal officials are moving

generators to hospitals and nursing homes still without electricity and the department of defense is helping to air lift utility crews into affected areas to get the lights back on. in new york, officials have restored power to more than 375,000 homes and businesses. people cheered when the lights came back on, gasoline is still tough to come by with lines stretching several miles in some locations across new york and new jersey today. some locations are still without electricity. so the gas cannot be pumped. officials have reopened the port of new york allowing more supplies in including fuel tankers brinking more than 200 million barrels of fuel to expedite that process. new york governor andrew cuomo

temporarily waiving registration requirements for fuel distributors and transporters. after a day of increasing controversi controversy of the new york city marathon, michael bloomberg announced it has been canceled. quote, we would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it. we cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event, even one as meaningful as this, to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track. with the red cross, fema and the national guard on the ground to help in staten island, people there have some hope. we get the latest from nbc news correspondent andrea canning.

>> go>> reporter: good evening. this morning all of that changed. >> today a welcome flood of relief as national guard, fema, red cross and other agencies set up camp bringing much needed supplies to this hard-hit working class community. >> thank you fema. >> reporter: 24 hours after this desperate plea on live television. >> you need to come here and help us. we need assistance. please. >> reporter: there is now hope. >> reporter: there's a renewed hope and spirit and that's what they needed. >> reporter: families crowded around tables to pick up canned food and ready to eat meals. more than 150 people lined up for dry ice. down the street, residents were streaming in with whatever bags of warm clothing they could sfar for their neighbors. temperatures are dropping tonight and parents here are worried about their children.

the homeland security chief and fema officials today oversaw the relief efforts. >> folks are going to be going door to door in these communities making sure that nobody is left out. >> reporter: as one person put it, it's not charity, it's humanity. >> i'm from brooklyn, today's my day off, i'm here now trying to help more. because it's just like a bomb hit. >> i don't believe this. >> reporter: esther doesn't even know where to start. >> we need help here. we truly do. we need someone to come and tell tuesday which way to go and how to go. everybody's becoming so frantic. >> reporter: she feels lost in her own neighborhood. there's the boat in her house, the water damage and the tangled web the wires hanging over her yard. about 500 residents are living at the local shelters. officials say housing is the biggest need. >> they're scared, they've been through so much and they want to know they're going to have a place to go for the next 30 days

or so and as for now we don't have those answers. >> reporter: while they wait for answers, today a small republican to normalcy. for the first time since the storm, the staten island ferry reopened, carrying passengers over quiet waters. >> and the cleanup has begun in this neighborhood, but it is going to be a long, hard road. you can see these boats on someone's doorstep. they're strewn up and down this street. a crane rolled in today taking one at a time taking them from the road back to the marina. back to you, lawrence. >> andrea canning on staten island. thank you. joining me once again by phone is michael kusic, a democrat who represents staten island. i want to go straightaway to the issue of the new york city marathon which begins in staten island at the base of the verrazano narrows bridge.

47,000 runners were registered for it this year. supplies were being brought out to staten island today for the marathon before the decision was made to cancel it. are you supportive of the mayor's decision to cancel the new york city marathon? >> yes. i'm supportive of the mayor's decision. i think the mayor made the right decision today. this was always about resources for us here on staten island. many of the neighborhoods that had been hit very hard by the hurricane, very close to the starting line and very close to the verrazano bridge where many of the runners would start the marathon. so this was always about the resources. we're still rescuing people. we're still going door to door. we're still trying to help our neighbors. and it was hard to figure out

having a marathon going on, if if there were resources used for the race, like police or generators or that type, could they have been used to help with the rescue. so i think the mayor made the right decision today, because this will at least put the ease some of the folks who still don't have electric and they're still without heat and are very close to where the start of that marathon would have been. >> you know, i have to confess that when the mayor first said that it was going to continue, he said that a few days ago before we realized how extensive the damage was, particularly on staten island. and there was a case to be made for it, that the city needs to be seen to be back on its feet, literally in terms of the marathon. but as time wore on, it became lex ex-applicable why we were doing this. and the "new york times" cover

party showing two generators that were being used in central park for the marathon to heat their tent. explaining that those two generators could be used on staten island to provide power to 400 homes. at that moment this morning when i saw that cover, i couldn't conceive of how this marathon could go on. >> right, right. like i said, i think the mayor made the right decision when he had decided early on to go forward. that was for the good of the city and for morale and for small businesses. but as you pointed out, lawrence, in t the last day, it's amazing what a difference 24 hours is. people didn't really know how bad it was out here on staten island. and i think that when the news cameras came out here yesterday, with senators schume r&d ilabrand, they realized it was bad out here. i don't think people realized

that and i think that changed people's minds that there was still more work to be done on this hurricane issue. >> michael, i know not every new york city politician frequents staten island, but cabinet secretary is a rare visitor to staten island. how did secretary napolitano's trip today help on staten island? >> the secretary's trip was great for morale. i think the people out here were encouraged to know that the federal government is here now in full force to have a member of the cabinet here to kick it off and to show that fema is here and they'll be here as long as it takes to get staten islanders back on their feet. it was very encouraging to the neighbors and to the residents. but very encouraging to the elected officials out here.

we've been working as a team out here, led by our borough president and many of the state elected officials and to have the secretary sit down with us and give us a briefing on what the federal government is going to do really, really helped us move forward today because when i spoke to you last night, lawrence, it was a different story. we, the day before, we hadn't heard from anyone. and to get this treatment today, and to see the number of fema employees here and the red cross and the national guard has done wonders for people's morale, and see that people really do care how the people are here on staten island. >> quickly before you go, a word on the red cross. the red cross was getting some heavy criticism on staten island just 24 hours ago.

we gist did a telethon for the red cross to raise money for people in the wake of the storm. some people were saying no, don't send money to the red cross. what's your view of how the red cross is on helping on staten island now? >> the red cross is here in full force and i think it's time to move forward. i think that people's opinions have changed. the president of the red cross was out here today. the the red cross has met with all the elected officials on staten island and they have said to us they are going to be here 100%. they have had numerous trucks here from the red cross. i was in a neighborhood today where the trucks were giving out food and blankets to folks who don't have heat or electric and it's safe to say that the red cross has been a supporter here on staten island and we see them being a supporter in the future. >> new york assembly man michael

cusick. thank you very much for joining me tonight. >> thank you, lawrence. coming up, four days to go. the campaign's sprint to the finish. karen finney is here for that. and in the rewrite tonight, what was the biggest lie republicans told this year about something president obama said. tweet me your guesses on that one. the answer will be in tonight's rewrite. and, some of the craziests republicans in congress. that's coming up. with my friends, we'll do almost anything. out for drinks, eats. i have very well fitting dentures. i like to eat a lot of fruits. love them all. the seal i get with the super poligrip free keeps the seeds from getting up underneath. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles.

super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. a lot of things going on in my life and the last thing i want to be thinking about is my dentures. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. gives you a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more [ russian accent ] rubles. eh, eheh, eh, eh. [ brooklyn accent ] 50% more simoleons. [ western accent ] 50% more sawbucks. ♪ [ maine accent ] 50% more clams. it's a lobster, either way. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. with a 50% annual cash bonus, it's the card for people who like more cash. [ italian accent ] 50% more dough! what's in your wallet? [ italian accent ] 50% more dough! this is hayden. he's five years that's elizabeth. and that's skyler... and his mom, nancy. they're just a few of the californians who took it on themselves to send you a message about what they need to restore years of cuts to their schools.

prop thirty-eight. thirty-eight raises billions in new revenue - bypasses sacramento and sends every k through 12 dollar straight to our local schools... every school. for them. for all of us. vote yes on thirty-eight. . the recovery from hurricane sandy is just beginning and it will take a lot of government spending to get it done and a

lot of earmarks. and suddenly at least one big republican is in favor of federal government spending. and, yes, in favor of earmarks. that's in the rewrite. and, the back and forth on the campaign trail is getting even more intense. team romney attacks, team obama responds. we'll have the latest from the campaign next.

with just four days until the election, four days? did i say four days? four days until the election, presidential candidates campaigned in ohio where moments

ago, mitt romney said this. >> your state is the won i'm counting on, by the way. this is the one we have to win. >> a new cnn poll of likely voters in ohio shows president obama polling at 50% and mitt romney at 47%. the president made three stops in ohio today where he talked about mitt romney's lie that chrysler is moving american jobs to china. >> you've got to own what you say. this isn't a game. these are people's jobs at stake. these are people's lives. companies like g.m. and chrysler, they put a lot of time and effort and money into building up their brand and letting americans know that the american auto industry is back. and we don't want suddenly a bunch of ads saying stuff that's not true. you don't scare hard working

americans just to scare up some votes. you know i tell the truth. and you know i fight for working families every single day as hard as i know how. >> president obama concluded his speech this way. >> and that's why i need you, ohio. to make sure that no matter who you are or what you look like or where you come from, what your last night is, where you started, no matter what, you can make it in america if you try. that's why i'm asking for your vote and if you're willing to work with me and knock on some doors with me and make some phone calls with me and turn out to the polls with me. we'll win this election. we'll win ohio. >> new polls show president obama polling ahead of mitt romney among likely voters in

the battleground states of virginia. in virginia, a reuters poll has president obama at 49% and mitt romney at 45%. in florida, reuters has president obama at 48% and mitt romney at 46%. in michigan, a ppp poll has president obama at 52% and mitt romney at 46%. and in colorado, a ppp poll has president obama at 50% and mitt romney at 46%. in new hampshire, a new england college poll has president obama at 50% and mitt romney at 44%. tonight, nate silver the "new york times" blog forecasts that president obama has an 81% of winning re-election and that he will win 304 electoral college votes and mitt romney will within 234. and the great thing about next

week is i will no longer have to say ppp poll. i'm done with that poll. these polls are tight. these polls, you know, i refuse to use the language the poll shows president obama winning 50, because every one of these polls is within the margin of error. every one of them. so they are really showing something that could be a tie, could be tight. for incumbents this is not considered particularly strong polling. when the incumbent is at 48 and the other guy is at 45, that's considered a risky spot for incumbents. >> here's the thing. the map is getting tougher for mitt romney. no question. >> that's always true. my bet is still on president obama. i just feel this thing is tighter even than those polls show. >> i'm not sure if i agree with that. because if you look at -- >> you don't have to. you're not here to agree. you're here to elucidate, to educate. >> if you consider that how much

money romney has tried to spend in the last couple of weeks trying to move the numbers in ohio and he hasn't. at this point they're trying to buy some cheap tv advertising to buy some time in pennsylvania, that's not going to happen. he may stand there and tell ohio, hey, i need you. it's not going to happen. he's already behind. and if you look at the battleground early vote states, he has to win 54% of the remaining votes in ohio to win the state. so those numbers, if you consider how many of the early vote people have already voted, in colorado, where you cited the ppp poll, he's got to win 55% of the remaining votes in colorado to win. that's where you start to see the wisdom of the obama team strategy, of a strong ground game and focusing on early votes and those sporadic voters and that the map for romney is getting tighter. >> ari, there is that decision is there another route. sometimes the democrats are doing it but here it is for

romney. is there a route around ohio. but there's romney tonight saying i think the one true thing. i have to win ohio. >> right. and when he says that, he is actually revealing more than he means to. because what it shows you also is that the pennsylvania stuff is garbage. if you could win, pennsylvania, florida and the southwest could do without ohio. >> why are they doing that? because that he's a play we've seen them try before and we've essay seen it fail before. is there some attempt to manipulate media coverage? >> to quote bill clinton, they think you're stupid. it's more a play for the media being stupid, saying look here's a chance to even it up, the press loves to even it up and pennsylvania is a way -- >> are they trying to get obama to put resources into pennsylvania? >> it is part of it. there is an element of a head fake to see can we shake something lose here, can we see movement in numbers, can we make them spend time there, maybe

once you're playing those kinds of games you know that your path to 70 is limited. as you said you better get ohio because pennsylvania is garbage. >> when people tune in on tuesday night and they see you lawrence o'donnell reading these election results. >> no, they're going to see rachel maddow. i will be sitting somewhere nearby being very quiet. >> there's a funny thing where they're going to look at the bottom of the screen and see these votes coming in, it's going to start at zero and go p. but that's an artificiality. he has what looks to be a billing lead there and that is concrete. that's not polling. that's ballots. >> part of this is about, i believe, trying to delegitimize president obama in a second term. a, so if they can create a

little ruckus and they're going to try to blame chris christie. coming up, how hurricane sandy has exposed one of mitt romney's biggest lies about president obama. that's in the rewrite. new prilosec otc wildberry is the same frequent heartburn treatment as prilosec otc. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill?

because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. that's the sound of car insurance companies these days. here a cheap, there a cheap, everywhere a cheap... you get it. so, what if instead of just a cheap choice, you could make a smart choice? like, esurance for example. they were born online and built to save people money from the beginning. it's what they've always done. not just something they cheap about. that's insurance for the modern world. esurance. now backed by allstate. click or call. or that printing in color had to cost a fortune. nobody said an all-in-one had to be bulky.

or that you had to print from your desk. at least, nobody said it to us. introducing the business smart inkjet all-in-one series from brother. easy to use, it's the ultimate combination of speed, small size, and low-cost printing.

from legitimate rape to

communists in the congress. some of the craziest republicans are in trouble in their election campaign because of something they said. including allen west and michele bachmann. that's coming up. ♪

[ male announcer ] it started long ago. the joy of giving something everything you've got. it takes passion. and it's not letting up anytime soon. at unitedhealthcare insurance company, we understand that commitment. and always have. so does aarp, an organization serving the needs of americans 50 and over for generations. so it's no surprise millions have chosen an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans, they help cover some of the expenses medicare doesn't pay. and save you up to thousands in out-of-pocket costs. to find out more, request your free decision guide. call or go online today. after all, when you're going the distance, it's nice to have the experience and commitment to go along with you. keep dreaming. keep doing. go long.

[ male announcer ] the way it moves. the way it cleans. everything about the oral-b power brush is simply revolutionary. oral-b power brushes oscillate, rotate and even pulsate to gently loosen and break up that sticky plaque with more brush movements than manual brushes and even up to 50% more than leading sonic technology brushes for a superior clean. oral-b power brushes. go to oralb.com for the latest offers.

>> i don't know what tomorrow's job numbers are going to be. i have no doubt they'll cook the books. >> hurricane sandy did not prevent the release of the october jobs data as planned. >> in 2008 we were in the middle of twa wars and the worst economic crisis since the great depression. today, our businesses have created 5.5 million new jobs and this morning we learned that companies hired more workers in october than any time in the last eight months. >> according to the bureau of labor statistics, private sector businesses added 184,000 jobs last month. the biggest monthly gain in eight months and 84,000 more jobs were actually created in august and september in an previously estimated. the unemployment rate ticked up

to 7.9% due to more workers restarting their job hunts, reentering the work force. attempting to. mitt romney reacted to the jobs report in wisconsin today. >> he said he was going to cut the federal deficit in half and then he doubled it. he said he was going to lower the unemployment rate down to 5.2% right now. today we learn that it's 7.9% and that's 9 million jobs short of what he promised. >> joe biden responded to romney this way today. >> called it territorial tax. it's the bain way. it means if you're going to build a factory you go find -- this is the fact. you go find a currentory with the lowest tax rate and the cheapest wages. build it there, pay those taxes and you never have to pay a penny in tax in the profit you make when you bring them back home. why would anybody build -- why would anybody build a factory here? ladies and gentlemen, the

experts point out, that new territorial tax will create 800,000 jobs. all of them abroad. i'm not making up, all of them abroad. 800,000. i found it fascinating at their convention when governor romney said the first thing i will do when i'm elected president, i will take a jobs tour. it's going to have to be a foreign trip. >> joining me now ezra klein and eugene robinson. it was a strong week for the conspiracy theoryists about the unemployment numbers. first the theory was that the president would use hurricane sandy and its effects possibly on washington, d.c. as an excuse for delaying the jobs report until after the election. and then of course as of yesterday when they knew it was coming out, they were absolutely convinced that they would cook the books. and so we saw an up tick o

of .1%. >> it's a reverse psychology ploy that the obama folks are trying but it won't work. none of what the conspiracy theoryists thought would happen in fact happened and there was an uptick in the percentage and a decent number of new jobs. and so it really allows both campaigns to continue with their main economic narratives. the obama narrative that things are getting better, let's stay the course and the romney narrative that things aren't getting better fast enough. >> mitt romney brought up the booming debt ceiling situation. there's going to have to be another increase relatively soon. let's listen to what he said about it today. >> you know that if the president is re-elected, he will still be unable to work with the people in congress. i mean, he's ignored them, he's attacked them, he's blamed them. the debt ceiling will come up

again and shutdown will be threatened chilling the economy. >> and harry reid reacted to mitt romney claiming he would be the one who would work k congress. >> romney's fantasy that senate democrats will work with him is laughable. ezra, this argument that mitt romney will be better at working with congress has absolutely no basis in fact or experience, but what do you see happening after this election on these issues? >> well, it's a funny word that wasn't in anything romney said, that was republicans. that romney's party in congress triggered a near-debt ceiling default a year ago. and in an effort to work with them, president obama did give larger concessions on the debt ceiling than any president ever before in history. from that perspective, we actually bent over backwards.

in terms of what i see happening going forward, if mitt romney is eleked with an all-republican congress, if republicans do manage to take over the senate and hold the house, at least the latter one is likely, he would be able to work with them. if he had to work with a democratic senate, his relationship with harry reid i think is far to say is not great. conversely if barack obama is re-elected, he will have to work with speaker john boehner and very likely have a democratic senate. and what's fascinating about that and you've talked about it a lot, is is we do have a reverse situation in the last couple of years on our hands. he's got the leverage in the fiscal cliff. he can let this happen and republicans can decide if they want taxes to be much, much higher. republicans see their leverage coming two months after the fiscal cliff we have another debt ceiling coming up. i think a lot of folks in politics are skept tal that if the republicans lose an election, the american people are open to them triggering a

debt ceiling. >> i don't think there's going to be a romney presidency but if we had one, i would love to see the first meeting between him and harry reid and he says okay, let me see your tax returns. >> exactly. i would love to see that meeting, too. and you know, i would also like to see some subsequent meetings between mitt romney and even the republican controlled house, which, as you know, has its factions that john boehner tries to keep together. but essentially is he going to be able to deal effectively with the tea party types. >> thank you both for joining me tonight. >> >> coming up, ana marie cox. and the biggest lie mitt romney has told about president obama has now been exposed by mitt

romney's former best friend chris christie and that is in the rewrite.

it took the tragedy of one deadly hurricane to convince one republican that government really does build things and build things that the private sector never could. that's next in the rewrite. seee something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve at a higher level. let's develop more stars in education. let's invest in our teachers... ...so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. ♪ ♪ ♪

[ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes. ♪ make it worth watching. ♪ the new 2013 lexus ls. an entirely new pursuit. monarch of marketing analysis. with the ability to improve roi through seo all by cob. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle... and go. you can even take a full-size or above, and still pay the mid-size price. i'm going b-i-g. [ male announcer ] good choice business pro. good choice. go national. go like a pro. what was the most lied about statement president obama made this year? what did the president say that

republicans then lied about, day in and day out? and even devoted one night of their convention to lying about? this. this was the most lied about thing president obama said this year. >> if you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. there was a great teacher somewhere in your life. somebody helped to create this unbelievable american system that we have that allowed you to thrive. somebody invested in roads and bridges. if you got a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. the internet didn't get invented on its own. government research created the internet so that all the companies could make money off the internet. the point is, is that when we succeed, we succeed because of our individual initiative, but also because we do things

together. there are some things just like fighting fires we don't do on our own. so we say to ourselves, every since the founding of this country, you know what? there's some things we do better together. >> that is the full version of the statement. the version you never hear from republicans. what republicans reduced that to was, if you have a business, you didn't build that. what the president actually said was somebody invested in roads and bridges if you've got a business you didn't build that. what he was very clearly saying was if you have a business, you did not build the road that your business is on. you did not build the roads that lead to and from your business. the roads and bridges that allow you to do business. in the closing week of the campaign, you haven't heard a word from republicans about you didn't build that, which was once their favorite attack line

on the president. and one republican is very busy these days thanking the federal government for what it has built. >> i saw in places like avalon where there were significant dunes that were built by the army corps of engineers, they did much, much better than some of the things that were done in the northern part of the shore. one of the things i'm going to be talking to the president about is bringing the army corps immediately. >> countless businesses have been destroyed. those businesses will not reopen without help from the government. federal and state government took coordinated action today to make sure those businesses and individuals will be able to get fuel, fuel that was rapidly running out. cars in new jersey were going to run out of gas. gas stations were going to run

out of gas. and not be able to get anymo mo. if the government didn't take action today. the government, yes, the gas stations and the drivers are going to pay for that gasoline out of their own pockets when they buy it, but they weren't going to be able to get it without government help. the government will clear the streets of wreck age and debris in front of the businesses that are now closed. the government will do the repair work that allows those businesses to have electrical power, to have passable streets. and ultimately allows those businesses to reopen and thrive once again. the government will reopen the transportation systems that allow those businesses' employees to come to work. transportation systems that allow those businesses' customers to come to their stores and restaurants. the owners and workers of those

businesses will work harder than theyed ha ever had to work before to get their businesses up and running again and they deserve to take pride in whatever rebuilding they do. but what they know is that they cannot do it alone. not now. many of them will get checks directly from the federal government for rebuilding. and one republican now believes they should get those checks from the federal government, believes that they deserve those checks. >> when people who don't have interest on the jersey shore, have never visited, have no interest in seeing it make it, see this in a world of shrinking resources, is it fair to ask why you? why the money? why the effort if this is the new normal? >> well, listen, it's fair to ask it but i have the answer. the answer is that for new jersey, which gives so much to this country, by the way, 50th in return of our federal tax

dolla dollars. so new jerseyians sent more than any other state in america getting back less. when that is done and you see that our state is a state that needs this to contribute to our economy and also to the soul and sieb ranscy of our state, i think we have answers and arguments to make. and you're looking at the guy who's going to make those arguments. >> now chris christie is going to be the republican guy who is going to say to washington, give us money for spending on infrastructure. the kind of spending that republicans mocked in the you didn't build that lie that they told about president obama all year. le chris christie is the republican guy who's going to say to washington give us earmarks, yes, earmarks for the army corps of engineers to build sand dunes on our beaches. exactly the kind of spending

that republicans have ridiculed for years. sand dunes that just saved lives in new jersey. and chris christie will have a little extra punch to his argument. because as he rightly points out, what he's asking for is for new jersey to get its own money back. new jersey sends in more money to the federal government than it ever gets back in federal spending. per person, new jersey sends in more money than any other state compared to what it gets back in federal spending. the wealthier states have always done this. the phenomenon was first tracked by then-senator from new york dannal patrick monahan who based his funding on that fact that new york sends into the government far more money than it gets back. while at the same time states like alabama, alaska, louisiana,

kentucky, mississippi, west virginia, wyoming, they all operate as clients of the federal government, collecting from the federal treasury far, far more than they ever send in in tax payments. these states have always lived off new york's money and new jersey's money and connecticut's monday and california's money and they've always been represented by conservative politicians happy to make speeches about wasteful federal spending while they were very busy directing that wasteful federal spending as they would call it to their own states. when staten island and the rest of new york state and new jersey and the other storm-damaged states are rebuilt, there is now at least one republican in new jersey who will understand the profound truth president obama spoke when he said this.

>> somebody invested in roads and bridges. if you've got a business, you didn't build that.

it's been ten days since richard mourdock solidified his standing amongst the bat crap crazy politicians when he said this. >> even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape that it is something that god intended to happen. >> an october poll had him up by 5 points. today he's trailing his opponent

by 11 points. joining me now ana marie cox. there is trouble in crazy land for the republicans. claire mckas kill is ahead of todd akin, allen west is in a tie at basically 47-48. how is michelle doing in minnesota? >> she's actually doing really badly when you consider she's outspent her opponent by about 12-1 and she's really running closely with him in part because she showed her inner crazy and didn't do her district the courtesy of coming back and explain herself later. she kept being crazy. i think there's a lesson for the gop to learn from all of this. this is what happens when you try to ride the wave of something like the tea party without pushing back on the ideological stuff that's

objectionable to moderates. this is what happens when you grab on to that momentum because you need the momentum because you'll do anything to win, you'll do anything to grab on to something that makes you seem more popular, you wind up with people like this, not in your primaries, but in your general election. >> krasy joe walsh is now behind tammy duckworth. he said you don't need the exception for the life of the mother for abortion because the life of the mother is never, ever in danger in pregnancy. >> i don't think all men are stupid, but certainly gop congressmen are and women aren't. this is something we're seeing across the line in swing states. women are paying attention to these races. women thing reproductive rights are important in these races and these guys apparently don't understand that that's something women think about not just as a social issue, but as obama said

in one of those debates, it's an economic issue, it's a personal freedom issue. >> and allen west who's just crazy across the board, he doesn't limit himself to reproductive issues. he's the one who said that the house of representatives has like about 100 communists in it, he's in a statistical tie. and his opponent's ads have just used quotations from allen west. word for word, this is what your congressman has said and that's the basis of his challenger's campaign and that has worked for him so far. >> yeah. it seems to me that should also work in the presidential campaign some of the stuff mitt romney said, especially now about getting rid of fema, but yes. allen west has been allowed to go off the reservation. when you're off the reservation for that long you lose sight of where your boundaries are. you go off into crazy land and you forget there is such a thing